Critical appraisal please

[Rhein]

My horse is shod in front, barefoot behind.I'd like to hear your opinions on her feet.
I've posted pictures of her hinds in the barefoot forum :)
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r237/rheinland-p-s/fronts.jpg
Front left:
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r237/rheinland-p-s/left.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r237/rheinland-p-s/Frontleft.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r237/rheinland-p-s/frleftunderside.jpg
Front right:
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r237/rheinland-p-s/right.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r237/rheinland-p-s/FrontRight.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r237/rheinland-p-s/frrtunderside.jpg

[Bebe]

As shoeing goes this seems to be a pretty good example. Neat and tidy, no serious flare going on, heels look to be in a reasonable position relative to the widest part of the frog, toe isn't too long (and doesn't appear to have been dubbed too much to make it that way which is nice to see).

The front right seems to be veering off medially (towards the left as you look at the pic) but it could be that the toe clip isn't central (not ideal but not a sackable offense either) or it might be a bit of flare that needs to be taken care of. It's not horrific though.

I wouldn't be upset if my horse was shod like this.

[Rhein]

Thanks Bebe. Really good to hear your opinions :). Puts my mind to rest that the farrier is doing a decent job.
I have been a bit concerned because of all the cracking around the nails, and the fact that her hooves haven't grown much in the last 6 weeks.
These pictures were taken about 1 week after a refit.

[Bebe]

The cracking around the nails is most likely due to a bit of infection getting in around the nail holes. It's pretty common, basically as soon as you make an entry point with the nail you give bacteria an entry point so will have some degree of infection there. You'll need to wait for it to grow out but if you want to treat it now and prevent it in the future you could scrub or soak her hooves in a topical solution - Borax (2 tablespoons to a gallon of water), Milton (at the concentration on the bottle I think) or Hibiscrub (1 capful to a pint of water) are all considered to be safe. Which one will work for you depends on the type of bugs in your area so it's a bit of trial and error to work out which one works best.

As far as slow growth goes, it could be any number of things causing it. I'd look to diet first, deficiencies in various trace minerals can slow horn growth down so if you're not feeding a good vit & min supplement or balancer that might be worth looking at as a first step. Whilst the grass is growing rapidly in most places at the minute it's likely to contain fewer nutrients as a result (more water content though), so that could be the culprit. I can't see anything in the pics that makes me immediately think there's something funny going on.

[Rhein]

Thanks :)

[joey_olop]

Im not clued up much about shoeing-but what lovely neat feet your horse has :)

[Rhein]

Aww, thanks :o